“There are two different types of Vampires you’ll come across in your assignments—the Made and the Born. It’s critical that you identify which you’re dealing with. Not only your life, but your comrades’ lives will depend on it.” Vonlowsky was just firing up his speech as we sat down for dinner. Someone had set up a projector after lunch, in the “cafeteria.” The slide flipped to a picture of a man with silver hair and ivory skin. His eyes were the darkest navy blue I’d ever seen. So close to black that humans would’ve thought they were bottomless.

“The Born, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. Flipping the slides, he showed more pictures of silver or white-haired men and women with ghastly pale skin and dark eyes.

“Born Vampires pride themselves on their lineage as a bastard breed between Supernaturals and demons. For them, immortality is worth more than anything, even at the cost of creating a stronger race—the Made. If the one they’re feeding on dies in the weakened state of the transition, the victim comes back as the Made—an enslaved race of those unlucky enough to find themselves undead.”

I kept an eye on Tori as he went through his little fear-mongering presentation. She shivered, but didn’t cringe at the slide.

“The Born are dangerous because they have the ability to create a zombie race out of every other species on the planet. The Made are controlled by the Born who bit them, but don’t let that fool you into thinking they’re weaker. Magical species that are turned are often the first and only line of defense the Born ever need, because of how much stronger they are. The Made have been known to turn on any who are not their sires, which makes them unpredictable and dangerous—even to the Born.” He flipped the page again, and I found myself face-to-face with the essence of evil. The Made were unnatural, even in appearance. Their eyes were tinted red, giving them a feral look. I didn’t question the zombie reference any further.

“What makes the Made so much stronger?” Alexandra was the first to speak, drawing everyone’s attention from the glaring red eyes. “The Borns’ age alone makes them nearly undefeatable, both faster and stronger than us because most of them have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.” While I was impressed that she’d done her homework and researched Vampires, after sleeping for so long, there was a vital piece of information she was missing.

“Because the Made were once one of us and now have all the strength and speed of the Born as well as their abilities from when they were living,” the strange girl from earlier answered. Her voice was grave, like she knew from experience.

“Ms. Kozak is correct. The Made retain everything from their mortal lives, and are stronger in every aspect for it. Their abilities become magnified, and they are frozen eternally. Never to bear children or grow old, the Made are more dangerous than any other race in existence.” He paused before proceeding. “Council Member Fortescue has given explicit instructions that any who are bitten during a mission are to be killed on the spot.” He glanced at Tori, and my blood ran cold.

“What?” I snarled.

He sighed and turned his attention to me. “You heard me the first time, Foster. You should know by now just how cruel this world can be. Look at this as a mercy killing,” he said.

“There’s no way in hell I’m murdering someone who has another option,” I said, slamming my fists on the metal table. The sound ricocheted through the tiny space as heavy silence fell.

“Then have someone else do it,” he said, turning to go on.

“No.”

“No?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“That wasn’t part of my agreement, and I’m not pushing it onto someone else.” I glared at him.

“You would risk the lives of your team, for one?” he asked, and for once I had no answer. His laughter felt like a slap in the face, but I couldn’t back down.

“It isn’t everyone for one, Professor, just like it’s not a mercy killing. Don’t exaggerate.” I spat the words at him, and the look on his face almost made me regret it.

“Ms. Foster, you are out of line. The terms of your agreement with Council Member Fortescue were binding. You took an oath to serve and be her right hand, ending the war before it begins. Don’t let foolish notions of sentimentality corrupt your judgment.”

I gritted my teeth against the urge to obliterate him into dust…because in a way he was right. I was the property of the Council.

“It is a mercy killing, Ms. Foster. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. Grow up. Don’t risk it. Council Member Fortescue will not be pleased. Do you understand?”

His threat was clear. I couldn’t act, though, because I was property, and I knew my job. I was to be the assassin, the Vampire hunter, the death bringer, and now a mercy killer. Mercy. I once told Anastasia I had none. Maybe I was right. If I went through with this, surely I was merciless.

“Do you understand, Ms. Foster? I will not repeat myself again.”

I swallowed my pride and nodded, keeping my head down for the rest of dinner. A stone had settled in my stomach, and the pressure wasn’t welcome. When he dismissed us for the evening, it couldn’t have come soon enough.

“A word, Ms. Foster,” he called.

I sighed, debating whether to listen or disobey him outright. Blair squeezed my hand as she walked by, and against my better judgment, I turned and walked back into the lunchroom. It didn’t take long for the room to clear out, and I stood brooding in the doorway while Vonlowsky disassembled the projector.

“Please close the door,” he said quietly.

I stepped inside, and the door clicked behind me.

He glanced up, but didn’t say a word. Silence stretched before us.

“Selena, it’s only day one of training, and I’m concerned,” he said.

My mouth popped open. That wasn’t how I’d been expecting this conversation to go. I kept silent, waiting for him to continue.

“Would you be making the same argument if it was one of the other soldiers on the line, and not one of yours?”

I blanched, the stone in my stomach like a bowling ball. I couldn’t answer.

“I didn’t think so,” he murmured.

“I want to say yes. I want to say I would,” I said hastily.

“But you can’t,” he summed up for me.

As much as I hated it, I only nodded.

“Make no mistake, Selena, about what’s on the line here. If you don’t carry out Council Member Fortescue’s orders, they’ll see to it that you cease to exist. You’ve already shown that your power is great. Don’t give them any reason to see you as a threat. If you aren’t with the Council, you’re against it. Do you understand?” The threat wasn’t his own, but it still burned like whiskey in my throat. Anastasia wasn’t to be trusted. None of them were.

“I understand, Professor,” I said, my voice steeped in sarcasm. He sighed deeply, aging ten years in five minutes. “Is that all?”

“You’re excused,” he said, dismissing me.

When I left the room quietly, the voices of my team carried from the floor above.

“I’m not sharing a bunk with her,” Alexandra was saying.

I sighed deeply, feeling like I’d aged ten years myself.

“I don’t know how you two are even related,” Blair muttered as she stormed toward the door I was walking in.

“Is there a problem here?”

The room went silent.

“I asked if there’s a problem here.”

Blair was the first to speak. “There are only five bunks on our side. Amber and Tori said they’ll take one, but Alexandra doesn’t want to share a bunk with anyone other than Aaron, and Aaron thinks it’s not appropriate even though there are two beds. We all kind of assumed you’d want your own because—”

Oh my god. Were they seriously arguing about sharing bunk beds? Seriously? We weren’t at summer camp; this was boot camp—and I didn’t really give a damn who shared what. We had ten beds and seven people, why this was even a discussion was…ludricous.

“You and I can share. The boys and Alexandra can have their own. Problem solved,” I said, walking over to my trunk sitting haphazardly in the middle of the small corridors.

“Are you sure?” she asked skeptically.

I grabbed the trunk handle with one hand and tossed it to the bunk in the corner opposite Alexandra’s bed.

“I’ll take the top,” I said. Opening the trunk with phantom hands, I simultaneously made the bed and stored my things underneath.

The room fell silent again, and this was the crux of the matter. Even simple telekinesis threw them off, because they didn’t know how deep the power ran. Would I simply move things with my mind, or would I do more and become the demon of legend? The one my father had warned me about. The one my mother had feared. The one I was well on my way to becoming.

“Oh, for the love of— Yes, I’m telekinetic. If you all are going to be on my team, you’d better get used to it. Are there any other issues that need to be taken care of before I get some sleep?” I rubbed my temples and glanced over the room. The nine were pretending to be busy, twiddling their thumbs and not bothering to comment.

“No?” I asked, turning to my group.

They all stared at me like I’d grown a third eye, apart from Aaron. He was lying on the lower bunk next to mine, absorbed in whatever he was reading. Wait…what? Reading? I didn’t know he read. Amber’s comments about being judgmental came to mind, but then again, I’d seen him every day, in both my classes and my life, for a year. I knew enough.

“Excellent. I’m exhausted.” I looked over at the strange girl the nine seemed to answer to. “You. What’s your name?” I asked.

She glanced my way, apparently unperturbed by my straightforwardness. Her golden eyes resembled a cat’s, with their slit-like irises. “Johanna.” Her voice wasn’t soft, but hard like stone—forged by whatever burden she carried.

We’ve all done things we’re not proud of…

Did I even want to know what she’d done that had landed her here?

“So tell me, Johanna, did you volunteer for this?”

Her lips twitched into an almost-grin. If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing here past the bullshit Anastasia was feeding me. Maybe Johanna did.

“Not quite,” she said.

Alec was throwing dagger-like glares at both of us. His mistress would’ve crapped herself if she’d heard how we talked about her, and this mission. And on our first day.

She said I had to serve and couldn’t tell them why. She never said I had to like it.

Maybe it was the same with Johanna. Or maybe she was a liar. It was hard to tell these days.

“If anyone needs anything, you go to her. I’m turning in for the night,” I said. My goal for today was done. The demons were locked in their cages, and everyone was still breathing. Maybe if I played nice with the strange girl, I could learn a thing or two about the rest of my so-called team—like, if they wanted to slit my throat while I slept.

“Me?” she asked, just as I reached my bed.

“You seem intelligent enough, and they trust you. That’s worth more than my pride, Johanna.”

I kicked my leg up to get enough leverage to pull myself over the railing and roll onto the bed. They milled around a bit more, speculating about what happened between me and Vonlowsky while I pretended to be asleep. Both Lucas and Aaron said nothing all evening, and I thought back to my conversation with Amber. Whatever was going on with either of them, it wasn’t my priority. Lucas had his own shit to work through, and Aaron was just an attractive punching bag. I needed to be on top of my game to make it through the next month. One slip up, a single misstep, and the Council would see me as a threat that needed to be removed. If I was going to survive this, I needed to become the monster.

I needed to be merciless, and figure out why someone kept sending their own monsters after me. But…I needed my friends too. This wasn’t going to be an easy line to walk. That much was already clear.